Overview of the Workshop
Prof. Dr. Hoang Anh Tuan, Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, spoke at the Conference
Precious heritage of our ancestors
In the endless flow of history and national culture, identifying, preserving and promoting the heritage values left by our ancestors is always one of the important tasks, demonstrating the responsibility of today's generation towards the past and the future. In particular, documentary heritage, as material evidence recording the memories, knowledge and history of a community, a nation or of all mankind, is increasingly receiving deep attention from the international community. It is in this context that the International Scientific Conference "Han Nom Inscriptions of Non Nuoc Mountain: Potential of Documentary Heritage" was held in Ninh Binh - a land with deep historical and cultural sediments. The conference focused on a treasure trove of extremely unique documentary heritage - the Han Nom Inscription system at Non Nuoc Mountain, Ninh Binh Province - a heritage containing great potential that needs to be explored and honored.
Non Nuoc Mountain, with other names such as Duc Thuy Son, Son Thuy or Ho Thanh Mountain, is located in a strategic geographical and historical location of Vietnam. Ninh Binh land, where "the southeast borders the sea, the northwest leans on the mountain, the terrain is both rugged and easy", was once the capital of the Dinh - Tien Le dynasties, witnessing the ups and downs of the nation's history. It is on that historical and geographical foundation that Duc Thuy Son has become a sacred space, a destination for emperors, literati and scholars over the centuries, and more importantly, is the place to preserve a priceless system of Han Nom inscriptions, known as "the only unique Vietnamese literature museum on stone in Vietnam".
Some literary works carved on stone at Non Nuoc Mountain
This system of inscriptions, with about 43 steles still in place and 12 other documents existing through printed copies, is a unique collection of documentary heritage, reflecting the cultural, religious, historical and ideological life of many generations of Vietnamese intellectuals from the 13th to the 19th century.
Efforts to bring Non Nuoc heritage to the world
The conference brought together a large number of scientists, leading domestic experts and prestigious international scholars from Taiwan, France and Japan. This diversity is not only reflected in the geographical scope but also in the multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary nature of the approaches. The reports at the conference covered many fields: from textual studies, history, comparative literature, to in-depth analysis of the value of documentary heritage according to international criteria; from studies on the history of formation, artistic characteristics, and ideological content of the inscriptions, to urgent issues on the status of conservation, challenges from climate change, environmental pollution, and advanced technological and management solutions. The presentations also shared valuable experiences from researching, preserving and promoting the value of similar heritages in Vietnam and around the world, such as Ma Nhai Ngu Hanh Son (Da Nang), Thieu Lam Pagoda stele (China), or other UNESCO-recognized documentary heritages.
The profound academic exchanges, new discoveries and enthusiastic proposals presented at the Workshop not only enrich our understanding of the Han Nom epigraphic heritage of Non Nuoc Mountain, but are also particularly useful in locating the value and determining a suitable roadmap for raising the international status of the Non Nuoc epigraphic heritage, recognizing it as a Documentary Heritage of the Asia-Pacific region.
